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Cleo Parker had a simple plan before retiring: She would work well into her 60s as a marketing analyst in the automotive business. But recently, she has been searching for Plan B.

In 2006, just as she was about to turn 50, Parker's longtime marketing job with a Detroit-area advertising agency was eliminated. For the next decade, she worked a series of short-term-contract and full-time positions. Parker's last full-time job, as a marketing analyst for a pet supply retail chain, evaporated in 2018.

Parker has since interviewed for more than 30 positions. At age 62, she often finds herself chasing jobs for which she is overqualified and that pay far less than what she had been earning.

"First, you have to deal with persuading people you are OK with a salary level at or below your last position," she said. Age discrimination also has been a barrier, she suspects.

Parker's story is a cautionary tale for anyone planning to postpone retirement and work indefinitely: It's a fine aspiration, but it's best to have a backup plan.

Many Americans understand that working longer can be a good way to improve retirement security. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 33 percent of workers expect to retire between ages 65 and 69, and 34 percent at 70 or beyond, or not at all.

Yet a recent study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that 37 percent of workers retired earlier than planned — and that the odds of success fell as the goal became more ambitious. In that study, among the 21 percent of workers who said they intended to work to age 66 or later, 55 percent failed to reach that target.

The most common causes for unexpected early retirement are health problems and job loss, said Geoff Sanzenbacher, associate director of research at the center. He was quick to note, however, that the study, based on data from the long-running University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, offers clear reasons for unplanned early retirement only in about one-quarter of cases.

Other reasons, Sanzenbacher suspects, are more difficult to measure. The pull of leisure activities and time with family are factors, he thinks, along with possible age discrimination. But the quality of work also matters.

"Do you feel motivated to go to work, and feel like you are accomplishing something?" Sanzenbacher said. "That can wear on older people nearing retirement faster than they might think."

Labor-force participation rates for workers 62 and older have been rising over the past 25 years, according to research by Richard W. Johnson, director of the program on retirement policy at the Urban Institute. But the increases have occurred mostly among better educated workers.

Working longer makes it easier to delay your Social Security benefit claim, increasing monthly benefit amounts through delayed retirement credits. Working longer can also mean more years of saving for retirement and fewer years relying on savings in retirement.

Cleo Parker, 62, grooms Livi, one of four bull terriers she's raised for dog shows and competitions, in Livonia, Mich., April 22, 2019. Parker was let go from her last job working in marketing at Pet Supplies Plus in January 2018, and her story is a cautionary tale for anyone planning to postpone retirement and work indefinitely: It?s a fine aspiration, but it?s best to have a backup plan. (Nick Hagen/The New York Times)

But counting on working longer to make a retirement plan work is fraught with risk — even during times when the labor market is healthy. The unemployment rate for workers 55 and older in April was just 2.6 percent, according to the Department of Labor — a full percentage point lower than the overall unemployment rate. But long-term unemployment is higher for older workers: 26.6 percent had been out of work 27 weeks or more last month, compared with 22.2 percent of all workers.

"Yes, the unemployment rate is low, but if you get laid off, the chances of ever really recovering are not very good," said Marc Miller, a career coach in Austin, Texas, who specializes in advising older workers on career shifts.

Even those who do find new jobs don't return to their earlier income levels, Johnson said. "You'd be lucky to get half as much as you were making — it's a big hit at any age, but it's so much worse when you're older because you have so little time to recoup those losses. ."

Parker and her husband, Mike, a technician specializing in small engine repair who also lost his job last year, had hoped to retire on their retirement account savings and Social Security, but the couple has been forced to tap those savings sooner than expected, along with some money Cleo Parker inherited from her mother.

Parker thinks her savings will last until she turns 80, but she isn't sure, she said. "This is a topic that makes me really uncomfortable, so I am not studying when we start circling the drain on a very frequent basis," she said.

At this point, Parker is seeking full-time work and hoping to postpone filing for Social Security until her full retirement age of 66. She expects the couple's combined Social Security benefit to provide $4,000 in monthly income.